AMERICANS ABROAD. Newly promoted Watford, with American defender Jay
DeMerit in defense, finally won its first game of the season - a 2-1 League
Cup win over second-tier Hull on Tuesday. It will aim for its first league win
against Tottenham on Saturday (TV, delay, 2:15 pm ET.) Keeper Tim Howard
and Everton face Arsenal Saturday (TV: Setanta Xtra, DirecTV Channel 670, live
9:55am ET; Setanta Sports USA, delay,12:30pm ET.) Brad Friedel and
Blackburn face struggling West Ham United, whose American defender Jonathan
Spector has made two starts, on Sunday (TV: Sunday, live, 11 am ET.
DaMarcus Beasley and Claudio Reyna are expected to return from injury
for Manchester City, which meets Middlesbrough on Monday (TV: Fox Soccer
Channel, live, 3pm ET.) Man City has just two wins this season.

GERMANY. Werder Bremen, which moved to the top of the standings with last
weekend's 2-0 win over two-time defending champ Bayern Munich, faces 15th place
Mainz on Friday (TV: Gol TV, live, 2:45 pm ET). Werder Bremen is led by
offseason signing Diego, the Brazilian midfielder who has a team-leading
four goals. Bayern, in fourth place and three points behind Bremen, faces 12th
place Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (TV: Gol TV, live, 9:30 am ET). Schalke
04, which is second, trailing Bremen on goal difference, meets VfB Stuttgart on
Sunday (TV: Gol TV, live, 11 am ET). Eighth-place Stuttgart has been getting
solid performances from two Mexican stars who joined following the 2006 World
Cup: defender Ricardo Osorio and midfielder Pavel Pardo.

MEXICO. Chivas Guadalajara's playoff hopes hinge greatly on getting win
against Atlas, which shares its Jalisco Stadium, on Saturday (TV: Telefutura,
live, 8 pm ET). Atlas and Cruz Azul have a three-point lead over Chivas in Group
A, the most competitive of the Apertura 2006's three groups with four games
left.